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Time and Gatsby

3. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Identify a character in The Great Gatsby who must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the novel as a whole.

In F. Scott F's novel, Jay Gatsby contends with a haunting past that constantly threatens his dream of a future with Daisy. Gatsby's future, as said by his father, to be one of promise. Gatsby's father states "He had a big future before him...", and Gatsby has the brain power to be successful. In Gatsby's life itinerary, it shows that he keeps an eye on his goals, is eager to get ahead and, in fact, has a plan to achieve his goals. But the one goal Gatsby does not achieve shows that he has "paid a high price for living too long with a single dream". Gatsby's dream is to make what has already past, his future, and his dream is just out of reach. As a result of living in the past, Gatsby limits his future and is doomed by a single kiss, which is his only tragic flaw.

Looking at Gatsby's past it is clear, that he doesn't start of as a successful man. He has nor money nor education, but a humiliating janitorial job and dreams of being a wealthy man. When he meets Cody, Gatsby falls in love with wealth and luxury. He dedicated himself to become a successful man, and changing his name to Jay Gatsby gives him a good start to reaching his dream. When Gatsby meets Daisy, it is obvious why a man who has gone to such great lengths to achieve wealth and luxury would find Daisy so alluring: for her, the aura of wealth and luxury comes effortlessly. She is able to take her position for granted, and she becomes, for Gatsby, the epitome of everything that he invented “Jay Gatsby” to achieve.

Gatsby suffers from past memories of Daisy and tries to relive the relationship...

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Throughout Fitzgerald’s novel, Gatsby’s entire life was shaped by his preoccupation with his past and so he does not live in the present but lost in a dream, it was his illusion of his ideal future that made time a key dimension in his life. He tries to relive his relationship with Daisy, believing that he could once again rekindle their love. Gatsby still imagined Daisy as a pure, perfect, amazing woman he fell in love with, completely blinded by the fact that Daisy was not to his ideal illusion of “perfect”...

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...for this reason is the greatest failure the world has ever seen.” -Eugene O’Neil
Through various pieces of literature, including F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the words of Eugene O’Neil are undeniably and vividly illustrated valid on innumerable occasions. The American Dream, dissected to its bare skin and bones, is all about prosperity and the relentless pursuit of happiness through material possessions. However, what does the dream evolve into once the ideals and goals have been fulfilled? The protagonist of Fitzgerald’s novel, Jay Gatsby, receives a first hand lesson that the fulfillment of those ideologies rarely leads to inner happiness. A strive for fulfillment may parallel directly to a never ending cycle, in which greed overtakes happiness, and one where an individual reaches for a dream that results in little satisfaction. Eric Liu depicts this idea in his piece “A Chinaman’s Chance”: “The poet Robert Browning once wrote that ‘a man’s reach must exceed his grasp- else what’s a heaven for” So it is in America.” These various works of literature depict exactly what the once admirable American Dream, turned to materialistic greed, ultimately leads to; that being failure.
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...reenacted, a time of swinging parties and when things just did not seem to matter as much as they do now. This may not seem as hard as it sounds. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, paints a picture of what the time period was like. It was a time known as the "Jazz Age", where the economy was on an upswing and money was easy to be had. Prohibition was in affect, and bootlegging was a highly lucrative but shady business venture. Jay Gatsby most likely took part in bootlegging, which is how he accumulated his vast amount of money. Tom Buchanan on the other hand, acquired his wealthy status, by inheritance. He did not earn his money, but his family gave it to him. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby each differ extremely much so on many views and situations that each of them came upon over the course of the novel.
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Linda loves her husband Willy immensely; she is completely devoted to him, and prioritises him over anything else. Linda is passively supportive and docile when Willy talks unrealistically about hopes for the future and subtly controls him to protect him from the harsh reality, therefore, unintentionally, is the reason for the family’s destruction.
Point 1: POWER IMBLANCE
P Linda has the most power in the marriage, she subtly controls willy:
E ‘Willy: [she is taking off his shoes] these goddam arch supports are killing me.’
E Linda constantly supports willy, agrees with everything he says, and leads him to believe he does no wrong and the world around him are the reasons for his downfalls e.g.
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Great Gatsby Essay
“People are so busy dreaming the American Dream, fantasizing about what they could be or have the right to be, that they’re all asleep at the switch. Consequently, we are living in the age of human error.” – Florence King. The American Dream is the legendary utopia of equality, democracy, and prosperity. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, examines the question of whether or not the exuberance of material wealth and riches is really satisfactory in the seeking of the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness. The Great Gatsby is the story of an eccentric millionaire named Jay Gatsby as told by Nick Carroway, a Midwesterner who moves right into the backyard of Gatsby. Nick learns that Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s cousin, the wife of Tom Buchanan, a man who is known by his “old wealth” and lavish habits of living. This novel is about the pursual of love and happiness, the empty and displaced morals of the wealthy, and the lies of what it means to be a self made man seeking the American Dream. Through the motif of material wealth, Fitzgerald shows the American Dream declining of moral values evidenced by greed and an empty pursuit of happiness.
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...American Dream Gatsby is chasing consist of; wealth, social acceptance, and the love of a desirable woman. Fitzgerald, in his novel The Great Gatsby, crafts a unique style of exploring the connection between Jay Gatsby and the American Dream. Tom Buchanan is man that had already gained the social status that Gatsby wanted to acquire in the novel. Mr. Gatsby desperately tries to befriend Tom Buchanan in order to gain social status and live the American Dream. Gatsby being a socially awkward person is inhibited in discovering the dream he is chasing. Finding love is another aspect of Mr. Gatsby’s dream that is never completed. His desire to marry Tom’s wife Daisy is an endless quest. Nick’s opinion of Gatsby is another factor that contributes to the unsuccessfulness of Gatsby. The American Dream is an artificial idea that cannot be achieved by Mr. Jay Gatsby because it is merely a product of the New World.
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